GKN is broadening a product range that already includes some engine components as airliner orders accelerate, with the deal taking aerospace sales to about 37 percent of the total, Chief Executive Officer Nigel Stein said on a conference call. For Volvo, the second-biggest truckmaker, the disposal marks the biggest structural shift since its car unit was sold in 1999.

“This is a defining moment for GKN with [its] aerospace [unit] now set to account for 40 per cent of [group] earnings” said Harry Philips, analyst at Oriel Securities.

GKN’s aerospace unit delivered a 13 percent rise in first-quarter profit, helped by the ramp-up of civil aerospace programmes, which have offset falling military sales.
GKN’s shares were 10.4 per cent higher at 206.1p.